Peskov says new US sanctions harm relations already in poor state

MOSCOW/SARAJEVO, Sep 21 (PRIME) -- A fresh set of U.S. sanctions against Russia is a hostile act demonstrating Washington’s attempts to use non-market ways of competition to displace contenders, Dmitry Peskov, spokesman for President Vladimir Putin, told reporters on Friday.

“We have had time to analyze the threats. And we had time to mitigate certain risks appearing from such actions of Washington… The actions are hostile, so to say, unfriendly, unpredictable, continuing to harm the bilateral relations that are already in a poor state,” he said.

On Thursday, the U.S. authorities blacklisted Russian defense entities Wagner Group, Oboronlogistika and the Komsomolsk-on-Amur Aircraft Plant (KnAAZ), and 33 Russians allegedly cooperating with the defense sector or intelligence.

Peskov also said that the U.S. political circles are dominated by sanctions hysteria which precludes clear-eye understanding of the prospects of relations between Moscow and Washington.

Russia intends to retaliate against the one-sided restrictions, but will adopt only measures that meet the country’s interests, Peskov added and stressed that the U.S. moves are illegal from the point of view of the international law.

Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that Russia will make every effort to become independent from the states which impose sanctions against their international partners.

“We will make and we already make conclusions from the situation. We do everything necessary to become independent from the states which act this way against their international partners,” Lavrov said at a news conference in Sarajevo.

“This is not the first time that serious international problems concerning members of the global society become victims of electoral cycles. But the approach is short-sighted as the confidence in the existing principles of the world monetary system has been hurt very seriously, and more and more states are thinking about avoiding any dependency on this international monetary system,” he also said.

Lavrov reiterated that U.S. sanctions against Russia are a tool of unfair competition.

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